Gov. Peter Shumlin at a news conference Wednesday. Credit: Terri Hallenbeck

Updated at 6:11 p.m.

Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday he’s likely to sign a bill that would remove the philosophical exemption allowing parents to opt out of vaccinating their children.


Shumlin, who has long argued against removing the exemption, said at a press conference, “I’m inclined to sign it.”

He conceded Wednesday that Vermont’s relatively low vaccination rate is not improving. “I’m sympathetic to the notion that we’ve got to move more quickly,” he said.

The measure passed the House on Tuesday by an 85-57 vote after a long debate in which many members said they were torn between wanting to prevent disease and supporting parental rights. Parents would still be able to opt out for religious or medical reasons.

The Senate took a similar vote to remove the philosophical exemption last month and is expected to agree to changes the House made, which include delaying its implementation until July 2016.

Rep. Anne Donahue and Rep. Paul Dame Credit: Terri Hallenbeck

Wednesday afternoon, the House fended off an unusual effort to reconsider the previous day’s vote. But even many of those who voted to keep the exemption Tuesday had no appetite for continuing the debate Wednesday.

By a 114-28 vote, House members defeated a motion by Rep. Anne Donahue to reconsider a vote on a portion of the bill. Donahue hoped to add a provision allowing those who have already been granted a philosophical exemption to retain it for four years.

Rep. Paul Dame (R-Essex Junction) worked with Donahue on the effort. He said supporters of the philosophical exemption had hoped to reconsider a different amendment offered Tuesday, which lost by just two votes, but they could not find anyone willing to make such a motion. Only those who voted on the prevailing side of a matter are permitted to make a motion to reconsider.

“Nobody wanted to be the person to stand up and basically be the person blamed by the entire medical community for keeping a version of the exemption,” Dame said afterward.

Some argued Wednesday’s wasn’t the sort of situation that warranted reconsideration.

Such motions should be reserved for instances in which new information comes to light or a flaw is found in the wording of a bill, said Rep. Tom Stevens (D-Waterbury). “Were there any flaws in the language?” he asked. “Were we misled at all?”

“It’s time to move on,” argued Rep. Paul Poirier (I-Barre). The majority agreed.

Vote reconsiderations are unusual. “I don’t remember the last one,” said Rep. David Deen (D-Westminster), who follows procedural issues closely.

In fact, there was one just last year, said assistant House clerk Bill Magill, but it wasn’t very memorable. In January 2014, the chamber agreed by a voice vote to reconsider an education bill in order to fix a drafting error.

Terri Hallenbeck was a Seven Days staff writer covering politics, the Legislature and state issues from 2014 to 2017.

17 replies on “Shumlin Expects to Sign Vaccination Bill”

  1. Good news. If parents are truly concerned about vaccines potentially harming their children or being unnecessary, those parents may choose to home school. Vaccination isn’t a government mandate; rather, it’s something that policymakers and scientists alike have decided is necessary in order to promote the greater good.

  3. Politics do not belong in our health decisions. Most politicians are not savvy enough to dig beyond what is in front of them.
    There is certainly more at stake here than exemptions. Our rights are being violated. We are responsible for our own health. No one else!!!! http://drtenpenny.com/#

  4. So, barely-governor Shumin will sign this bill. Unless he changes his mind.

    Good. I’m getting tired of time after time having to bend over backwards to assuage a flaky few at the expense of the rest of our society. stellaquarta is correct; There are options. Don’t like those options? Too bad! Your dislike does not trump the rights of all of those who would be so badly hurt in the event of an outbreak. Open your eyes, measles are making a comeback! Yay you!

    Medical exemptions? Totally fine, the right thing to do, and that’s between you, your doctor, and nobody else..

    Relying on the “herd effect” to keep your child safe because of your “philosophy”? You disgust me.

  6. As my son who has special needs including extreme allergies to most additives and medications has been advised by two specialists to not have vaccinations, still could not get a medical exemption with this new house passed bill. After 3 years of trying and each year ending up taking the philosophical exemption. We will do the same this fall. And with his IEP requiring in school support, he will continue in school if we have to fight for it. With 50% of schools in mid winter considered germ carries of the common cold, there is no excuse for immune compromised folks attending the public school. I worked with cases, years ago wearing a mask and gloves in home visits and the state of VT gives home based support for these children.

  8. “i don’t get this. How are those vaccinated threatened by those not vaccinated?”

    Why, oh why, do keep repeating this question? It’s been answered 10,000 times. The answer is simple: 1) because some children can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons; and 2) because some people who do get vaccinated don’t become immunized. Therefore, they are vulnerable. Therefore, your refusal to get vaccinated threatens the health of some people who DO get vaccinated.

  9. Anyone at SevenDays want to tell me why my two comments were censored/removed? I just checked the commenting guidlines again, neither comment was in violation of any of them.

  11. @ FreedomToBeParanoid:

    The U.S. has also for years been hiding evidence that space aliens have landed in the US and are among us.

    The information is posted on the Internet, so it’s obviously true:

    http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/u…

    http://beforeitsnews.com/paranormal/2012/0…

    http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc83…

    http://www.quora.com/Is-the-U-S-government…

    http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Na…

    https://www.debate.org/opinions/is-the-gov…

  12. I see the usual stupidity is being parroted by knowyourass.

    “Why, oh why, do keep repeating this question? It’s been answered 10,000 times. The answer is simple: 1) because some children can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons; and 2) because some people who do get vaccinated don’t become immunized.”

    So, poor innocent child 1) is too immune compromised to get a vaccination that is supposedly safe beyond imagination for everyone else, – even with neurotoxic mercury & aluminum & formaldehyde-, but of course still goes to school. So, in effect, they are carriers that can get other kids like them sick & the kids that are vaccinated but for some reason still don’t have immunity (the vaccine doesn’t work) like kid 2). They shouldn’t be allowed in schools, they’re disease spreaders.

    Poor innocent child 2) might not have immunity even though he was vaccinated. Which means he may be contagious with something that he might give to child 1) & all the other child 2) kids the vaccine didn’t work on, in effect being just like the children that are not vaccinated, (minus the neurological damage from the mercury/aluminum in their brains). My God! We’re going to have an outbreak, a plague even & we haven’t even gotten to the antivaxxer kids yet!

    Maybe we should have legislation to start testing all these vaccinated kids to see if they actually have immunity or not. Who knows how many “carriers” we might have walking around our schools, infecting those poor kids that can’t be vaccinated & each other. Oh, and imagine the money to be made from mandatory testing…

  13. Vaccination isn’t a government mandate……YET. We are getting there though.
    This is just the beginning. Roll up your sleeves everyone! You can be chronically ill and not be granted a medical exemption. It’s just the way it is. So for those of you that have been fine after every vaccination, good for you. If the day comes where you are in the other seat and you know it will cause you harm to be vaccinated and you have no way out of it….well, I guess you will figure it out because you seem to know it all already.

  14. Ah, yes. More non-logic and non-science by FreedomToNotThink. This is the same deep thinker who accused the Chair of the Vermont House Healthcare Committee of taking money from Big Pharma but who has refused to present evidence to support his accusation. His accusation implied that Lippert was part of a big conspiracy to remove the philosophical exemption. But Lippert voted against removing the exemption. Poor Freedom! Reality just isn’t conforming to his paranoia.

  15. Hold the pharma companies accountable. Sign this petition

    http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/repeal-im…

    Why should the drug companies be above the law? If vaccines are safe, there would be no need to grant the drug companies immunity. In 1986 Congress gave the drug companies immunity against all lawsuits from vaccine related injuries. The Federal Government is now paying out billions in damages to parents whose children have been hurt by vaccines, so the drug companies continue to rack up huge profits while the tax payer continues to pay the damages.

  17. I have 2 vaccine injured children. After years of research I now know I was wrong to “vaccinate” them. What I find most appalling is that most parents who are anti vax usually have learned the hard way and are trying to warn others…. The one’s who researched PRIOR to almost “vaccinating” their children and concluded there was too much risk are doing the same thing yet the warnings fall on deaf ears. If you’re for freedom then you can’t say you’re for “mandatory vaccination”. Fascists are for mandating health choices not true Americans. What is next ? Mandatory abortions of girl babies like in China. Every person who doesn’t spend ALOT of time researching this and looking at both sides is in no way entitled to spew their opinion. Take it from a former “pro vaxxer”.

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